Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 33

1 Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, October 28, 2007 3E (EffiAIDIEiicllijil'j Brian Rosenthal breaks down the Huskers' performance 1 7 ftp HUSKER EXTRA Way too many false-start penalties for this late in the season. Some were costly, too. Nebraska had nine penalties overall. Great work by Ganz, coming off the -bench in the fourth quarter in a sudden situation. Nate Swift, son, you can't field punts inside the lfyard line.

Adi Ku-nalic didn't seem to have his usually strong leg. One kickoff against the wind went to onlyttie 19-yard line, and Kunalibv couldn't reach the with the wind. Great work by Dan Titchener, who had four punts downed inside the 20-yard line. At least this was entertaining. The defense showed some life, Marlon Lucky ran hard, Keller was improved from recent weeks.

For a while, we were wondering if Callahan was trying to pull a Barry Collier. Then, reality struck. Texas went to the zone read, and what ensued thereafter looked familiar. Can't question the effort on this day, though. We saw the cons of blitzing every down.

It's a gamble, and Nebraska lost at the most inopportune times. When Texas began mastering the zone read, like Texas had the week before, you had the feeling this wasn't going to end well. And to think, earlier in the game, the Texas fans were booing when Mack Brown ran the ball for virtually no gain. Nebraska began the game dominating on the ground. The Huskers didn't finish that way.

A busy day for Marlon Lucky, who ran for 111 yards on 24 carries. Was surprised to see Cody Glenn used (unsuccessfully) on the third-and-1 play on Nebraska's first series. Nebraska ran for only 42 yards after halftime and finished with 132 for the game. Why not some more of the two-back sets this season? That seemed effective. Should we prepare for more Joe Ganz? Sam Keller's shoulder injury might be serious.

It's probably fair to temper Ganz's late success by pointing out Texas was playing prevent defense. But the backup quarterback looked poised, confident and calm and led the Huskers to a TD that kept NU's slim chances alive. Not sure how Nate Swift could get that open twice on the same play, but who's complaining? We saw the pros of blitzing every down. NU successfully rattled Colt McCoy. More importantly, the blitzing seemed to breathe some much-needed life into the Black-shirts.

They seemed more active, passionate, in-tune. They looked like a defense. It's understandable when Kevin Cos- grove says you can't blitz this much against every offense, but.isn't it fair to think some more blitzing is good for this defense? Bill Callahan got too conservative very after the Huskers forced their first turnover in four weeks. First-and-10, at the Texas 41-yard line, leading 17-15 with 10 minutes remaining and two ineffective running plays. If there's ever a chance for a trick play, orjustadeepshot.

Nice call, though, on the fourtfKlown play in the first quarter, using Cody Glenn as a decoy and throwing to Andy Sand in the flat. New sense of optimism for NU 1 pilJWlllH Mill Wiu II.IHI1I pil-IIULLU JBIJI 1 i 'vS (iuwVi r-v i J. A ii ''Tl 1 "vlQl V- 7 -f I i 111 iiiMilMMimi liir--f-ifi in ml nnf am Our bbggers take your questions and get some answers Why ctldrt take this long to Incorporate a serious Mltz (package) Into the game plan? Nebraska sent heavy pressure at quarterback Colt McCoy for two reasons: One, it didnt feel like the Longhorns' offensive line and single back-backfield could handle the extra responsibility. And, two, the Huskers didn't much fear McCoy's ability to escape. "We always just try to gauge on what we (see from) other quarterbacks (and) the line," safety Ben Eisenhart said.

"We decide what we can and can't do. They're a pretty simple offense and they do all same stuff, so we decided that we were going to be able to come out and blitz, and we were pretty successful." 2. Let's say you knock the opposing QB on his (rear) and put him out for a play. The other team sends In a freshman quarterback. You're (the) defensive coordinator, what do you protect against? Apparently, not the zone-read run out of the shotgun.

When McCoy got knocked from the game on a lick by Phillip Dillard, Texas immediately went to that look with John Chiles and Jamaal Charles. Charles then busted a 25-yard run up the middle and the light went on for the Longhorns' offense. McCoy came right back to gain 24 yards on the same play, and Charles followed with a TD. 3. Where was the intermediate passing game on the fourth-quarter drive? It was deep pass after deep pass.

We assume you're talking about the drive after Texas took a i 21-17 lead, when Sam Keller end ed up turning over the ball on a fumble. Before that, he threw two deep throws, one over the middle and one in the flat. Wide receiver Nate Swift said the Huskers noticed early how far off the hashes the Texas safeties set up, which offered dowrvthe-field opportuni ties. "We had a couple of them where there was third-and-10 and they were playing flat-footed at 10 yards and either batted the ball down or had great coverage," Swift said. "So, then, we decided we had to start going deeper, pastthe 10- yard point, so we could exploit that." i i 1 I 4 9 AUSTIN, Texas So, what story plot can we think of to keep this thing interesting over the course of the next four weeks? A coaching staff doing everything it can to save their jobs? That's become a bit stale, don't you think? Well, what would you say to a quarterback situation that today may be a lot less up in the air than the surprising performance Nebraska gave through the first three quarters of Saturday's 28-25 loss to Texas? If you're asking yourself, "Now what?" following NU's fourth straight loss, it might give you a shot of energy to know that interim athletic director Tom Osborne had nothing but kind words for the Huskers (and a handshake for offensive coordinator Shawn Watson) as they came off the field.

Maybe you'd already given up on the game after Jamaal Charles sprinted 40 yards for his third touchdown in the final quarter to give Texas a 28-17 lead. And maybe you didn't see what happened after Sam Keller suffered an injury to his left shoulder on his 35th pass attempt of the game. Joe Ganz, who hadn't attempted a pass since the season opener, followed an incompletion by calmly delivering a fourth-and-10 strike to Maurice Purify that kept alive a late drive he capped with another connection to Purify to pull NU to 28-25. As empty as Ganz and his teammates had to feel after coming up just short, there also was a sense of renewed confidence. And with it a vow to make these next three games just as exciting as Saturday's one of the strangest contests you'll see.

Texas fans were actually booing the Longhorns early in the second half, but, of course, belted out the Eyes of Texas with them after the victory. "It reminds me a lot of last year's Texas game," said Ganz, referring to a 22-20 loss to the Longhorns that was a Terrence Nunn fumble away from being a 20-19 Huskerupset. "It's not, 'What do we have to It's just we're so close and it's just so upsetting to lose such a close game again. "It's tough, and I feel bad for (my teammates) because they played their tails off." But if Keller's season is done and judging from his tears as he greeted his parents outside the Nebraska locker room, it very well could be the Huskers appear to have a backup around whom they can rally. "He's one of those guys that for the last three years has been that guy that can run the offense just as good as the starter," wide receiver Nate Swift said of Ganz.

"We had Zac (Taylor), and (Joe) can come mn it as good, and I think it's the same thing here with Sam. "As you saw, he's got confidence and he's calm under pressure." Obviously, success in one pinch-hit drive doesn't provide us with all the answers about Ganz, But if he's going to have to step in for Keller, Saturday's showing by the Huskers ought to have him thinking November could be a TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star With the left arm of Nebraska starting quarterback Sam Keller (above) in a sling, it's possible that backup Joe Ganz (below) might see more playing time this season. Immediately after Keller's injury Saturday, Ganz entered the game and completed two of three passes, one for a touchdown, and threw a two-point conversion. CURT McKEEVER Journal Star Staff Writer month to remember. "It's week to week, obviously, cause anybody can beat anybody," Ganz said, after Nebraska showed its first real zip since winning at Wake Forest in the second game.

"But I hope this gives us a lot of confidence going into this week and hopefully we get the thing right again against Kansas and play just as hard and play with as much emotion as we played today. "That's all you can really ask. You can't ask people to do superhuman things. You've just got to ask them to give everything they have." The Huskers' "everything" still wasn't good enough. Texas eventually figured out that NU couldn't defend the zone-read run very well and produced 261 of its 545 yards in the fourth quar-' ter.

But unlike a couple weeks ago against Oklahoma State, there was no sense that Nebraska had given in, that it saw no hope of making things right The way Nebraska went after Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, with blitz after blitz, you couldn't question whether defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove had sold everything he had into trying to beat the Longhorns. "It gave them a chance to win," Mack Brown acknowledged of the Huskers after he'd notched his 100th win at Texas. I bet he never figured he'd be walking away Saturday with a major sigh of relief, though. While Brown was left feeling fortunate, NU safety Ben Eisenhart admitted how a Husker win would have given them some vindication for all the negativity they've endured the last month. Still, the senior from Culbertson walked away with a different feeling.

He wasn't questioning if Nebraska will start getting the kind of difference-making plays late in games that will help it win games like Saturday's but when. "We are down. I mean, four losses in a row, it sucks," Eisenhart said. "But we like football. I mean, I know we say the same thing every week, but we've just got to keep fighting, and one of these days we're going to catch a break." To Texas defensive tackle Derek Lokey, the Huskers are well on their way.

"They were playing like they had nothing to lose, Lokey said. Anything less than three more of those performances would be disappointing. Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeeveijournalstar.com. tinue running Slaton through the likes of Louisville, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Pittsburgh. Colorado 31, Texas Tech 26: Note to Missouri, Iowa State and Nebraska, the three teams left on the Buffaloes' schedule: Don't get too far behind Dan Hawkins' bunch.

CU has a ground attack that can eat up the clock and a defense that loves turning up the heat when it's got a lead. Just ask Graham Harrell, who threw four interceptions Saturday. BALL STATE 35-17 Tin i 1U (A Mr- IOWA STATE 41-40 r- "3 McKEEVER'S POINTS To participate in Out of the Blog, log on to HuskerExtra.com and submit your questions to Curt McKeever in the Life in the Red staff blog. MICHAEL McNAMAR ALincoln Journal Star Oregon 24, USC 17: Will the Los Angeles media now start calling for Pete Carroll's head? OK, probably not going to happen. But after this one, that dynasty talk is over.

Oregon's defense is an afterthought to the Ducks' high-powered offense, but on this day, three forced turnovers ought to give the 'D' some headlines. West Virginia 31, Rutgers 3: Steve Slaton's early sideline-to-sideline touchdown run will not be lost on Heisman Trophy voters. The Mountaineers also will be on a lot of BCS Bowl lists if they can con NEVADA WAKE FOREST 52-10 20-17 OKLA. STATE NOV. 3 KANSAS NOV.

10 KANSAS STATE TEA Lincoln TV: TBA 1 1:30 a.m. Lawrence (37) 1 TEXAS ill) 28-25 MISSOURI 41-6 USC 49-31 TEXAS 36-14 NOV. 23 COLORADO 11a.m. I Boulder TV: ABC (7, 8) 45-14.